Courtesy of Edward Liu

Stan Lee b. 1922

From the fertile mind and nimble pen of Stan Lee have sprung such notable superheroes as the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, the Mighty Thor, and X-Men, not to mention the movie megastar Spider Man. Born Stanley Martin Lieber, the American comic-book writer served as editor, and then president and chairman of Marvel Comics for over three decades. During his tenure, Marvel grew from a small division of a publishing house to a multimedia giant. Critics and readers credit Lee with breaking with tradition in creating nuanced personalities for his superheroes by endowing them with human faults and frailties.